Verstappen tops final Japanese GP practice, 0.2s ahead of Norris & Piastri
In his final qualifying simulation, Verstappen was impressive in the last sector, allowing him to top the session ahead of Lando Norris. Norris experienced some oversteer on the exit of the final chicane, indicating that he still has room for improvement. Verstappen, Norris, and Oscar Piastri were separated by just over 0.2s, with a significant gap to Sergio Perez in fourth place. Perez continues to struggle with his one-lap pace at Suzuka, trailing 0.7s behind his teammate’s time. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fifth and sixth, losing around 0.5s in just the first part of the lap. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell followed in seventh and eighth, narrowly ahead of Fernando Alonso. Zhou Guanyu rounded off the top 10 for Alfa Romeo, with less than a tenth of a second advantage over Valtteri Bottas.
Source: Crash
